Mumbai rains: Red alert issued, trains affected, offices shut
Already battered by coronavirus pandemic, Mumbai on Tuesday woke up to severe water-logging and heavy rains, that threw normal life out of gear. A red alert has been issued for the capital of Maharashtra and areas like Thane, Pune, Raigad, and Ratnagiri. Local trains have shut operations and all offices, except those involved with essential services, were ordered to remain close. Here's more.
With incessant rainfall recorded through last night, residents woke up to water-logging. BEST buses were diverted on at least 56 routes due to waterlogging on 26 roads. Streets in areas like Goregaon, King Circle, Hindmata, Dadar, Shivaji Chowk, Shell Colony, Kurla ST Depot, Bandra Talkies, and Sion Road remained flooded. Trains on Central, Western, and Harbor lines were completely shut due to downpour.
About affected operations, the Western Railways informed, "Due to high tide and heavy rains resulting in water-logging at Dadar and Prabhadevi, special suburban services are being run between Virar-Andheri-Bandra and suspended between Bandra - Churchgate." Separately, Central Railways said, "Due to high tide resulting in water logging at Vadala and Parel suburban services are suspended on main-line and Harbor line."
According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai received 140.5 mm of rain between 8 am on August 3 and 3 am on August 4. During the same time period, Eastern and Western suburbs received 84.77 mm and 79.27 mm of rainfall respectively. Further, a high tide, reaching up to 4.51 meter, is expected at 12:47 pm today. BMC asked residents to not venture out.
Anticipating extreme damage due to rains, BMC put fire brigade on alert. 299 de-watering pumps will also be installed to flush out water from low-lying areas. Officials in L-ward, which covers Kurla and Sakinaka, were directed to monitor the water level at the Mithi river.
Images from Mumbai, that appeared on social media, showed cars submerged in rainwater. Twitter user Habib Khan posted a video of the rains, saying he hasn't seen anything like this since July 26, 2005. Struck by a severe storm and heavy downpour, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region came to a standstill years ago. Another user shared an image with "Oh no! Not again!!" caption.
Travelling on western express highway..
— Habib Khan (@HabibKh76240112) August 3, 2020
Never seen anything like this after 26th july 2005..#MumbaiRains
Stay safe.. stay indoors.. pic.twitter.com/FBPBphuuFn
Courtesy heavy rainfall, landslides were triggered along the Western Expressway. In one image from Kandivali, operations along the highway were seen getting affected. The road leading towards the airport from the city was closed. The Mumbai Fire Brigade said no casualties were reported. Notably, last year Mumbai received the heaviest rainfall in a decade and it won't be surprising if that record is shattered.
